Themes: Before We Knew Each Other & Under The Bed

Slight spoilers for past chapter 46 /episode 25. Takes place between the events of chapters 49 & 50.

:)-(:

"As a kid, I used to believe in monsters, Sir," she started out, hands on the steering wheel as she waited for him to get settled in the passenger seat.

"Oh?" his response was weak. It's not that he wasn't interested, he just had other things on his mind.

She nodded as she checked the mirrors before pulling away from the curb. "I used to think there was a portal they came through under my bed." She paused for a moment, the story had set her back to a time before her father had become engrossed with the secrets to flame alchemy. "My father went through great lengths to disprove it, because I kept interrupting his research at night to have him to check for monsters. Eventually, he used alchemy to deconstruct and rebuild the floor in my room. He'd claimed that it had destroyed the portal and no monsters could break through his alchemy. As a four-year-old, it was easy to believe him."

Mustang searched her face, not quite sure what she was getting at.

Aside from the sound of their breathing, silence floated between them until she stopped at a red light.

She glanced at him. "I haven't believed in monsters for a long time, Sir."

"There will always be monsters out there," he reasoned, resisted the urge to reach out and give her hand a squeeze.

"I can take down the human ones. That's easy enough, but these homunculi, they're difficult," she confessed as they got moving again.

"But we can kill them, especially if we work together," he interrupted.

She smiled and looked over at him for a brief moment. The resolve in his eyes and the determination in his voice was reassuring.

"I'm sorry I gave up that day. When she said you were dead, I was that scared little kid again, and the monsters were back."

This time he did reach for her hand. "I'm not going anywhere, not until long after they're gone."

She nodded. "I know. We'll defeat them, but it just makes me wonder what else could be lurking out there."

"Good and bad, Lieutenant. We just have to do what we can to make sure the good outweighs the bad. It's the closest to perfect this world will ever get."

She pulled to a stop outside of Central and turned to him as she turned off the car. "Thank you, Colonel."

:)-(:

A.N.: Written for a prompt contest at fma_fic_contest livejournal.